Molecular markers associated with linolenic acid content in soybean

Abstract

Abstract An altered FA profile with decreased linolenic (18∶3) acid in soybean germplasm was developed by crossing N97‐3708‐13, a soybean line with reduced 18∶3 (<5.4%) and ‘Anand’, a normal soybean cultivar (9.7% 18∶3). The resulting recombinant inbred lines are promising because they may promote healthier oil with improved oxidative stability and flavor. The objective of this study was to utilize the population N97‐3708‐13 × Anand to identify simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers associated with 18∶3 content. Two markers, Satt534 and Satt560, which are located approximately 10 cM apart from each other, near the Fan locus on linkage group B2, were identified as quantitative trait loci significantly associated with 18∶3 content ( P =0.001, R 2 =0.59, individually). The SSR markers identified in this study should be useful for implementation of marker‐assisted selection for low‐18∶3 genotypes in soybean breeding programs.